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What's the biggest difference between Marion High School and what you expected?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
735
High
DISTRICT 433 · STATE 468
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MARION INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 191869001075
Marion High School
675 S 15th St, Marion, IA 52302 · (319) 377-9891 · Linn County
GRADES 09–12HIGH22-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL735 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 20% of Iowa public high schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Iowa public high schools
Student : Teacher
16.3:1
45 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.7:1 · STATE 17.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
27%
200 students
DISTRICT 40% · STATE 41%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 191 | 26% |
| Grade 10 | 177 | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 187 | 25% |
| Grade 12 | 180 | 24% |
Student demographics
31%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 36% · STATE 48% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Marion Independent School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
ISASP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
77.0%
IA avg 73.6% . +5.8pp since 2023
Math
64.6%
IA avg 70.9% . -0.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the ISASP, Iowa's statewide test, about 77 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 65 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Iowa schools, those numbers are about 74 and 71. Reading and writing scores are up about 6 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
ISASP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 77.0% | 64.6% |
| 2023-24 | 71.2% | 65.4% |
% Proficient, all students and all tested grades.
Source: ISASP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of IA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
67.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
78.3%
based on IA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-10.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 68% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 78% typical for Iowa schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Marion High School
Marion High School's state test result (67.8% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marion High School this school | 735 | 27.2% | 67.8% |
| Central DeWitt High School De Witt | 533 | 26.6% | 76.4% |
| Boone High School Boone | 704 | 30.7% | 69.2% |
| Clear Lake High School Clear Lake | 461 | 26.9% | 77.5% |
| Clear Creek Amana High School Tiffin | 800 | 28.3% | 76.1% |
| Independence Junior Senior High School Independence | 712 | 29.4% | 71.1% |
Matched among Iowa high schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Marion High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Iowa | In Linn County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 67.8% | #216 of 313 | #9 of 14 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 64.6% | #229 of 314 ▼ 21 | #11 of 14 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 77.0% | #174 of 314 ▲ 63 | #9 of 14 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 735 | #64 of 340 | #6 of 15 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.3:1 | #198 of 259 | #7 of 12 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 31.3% | #94 of 260 | #7 of 12 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 27.2% | #235 of 320 | #8 of 15 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +9.7% | #78 of 133 | N/A |
Ranked against other public high schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
735
+45 (+7%) vs 2020
+61% since 1990-91, when it was 456
Student : Teacher
16.3:1
was 16.8:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 735 | 45.2 | 16.3:1 | 27% (200) |
| 2023-24 | 720 | 45.7 | 15.8:1 | 28% (204) |
| 2022-23 | 722 | 43.1 | 16.8:1 | 28% (202) |
| 2020-21 | 690 | 41 | 16.8:1 | 24% (165) |
| 2017-18 | 670 | 41.7 | 16.1:1 | 21% (141) |
| 2015-16 | 640 | 44 | 14.6:1 | 24% (151) |
| 2010-11 | 608 | 44 | 13.8:1 | 28% (169) |
| 2000-01 | 560 | 40 | 14.0:1 | 10% (55) |
| 1990-91 | 456 | 28 | 16.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Marion High School.
Since 2017-18: students up 10% (670 to 735); teachers up 8% (41.7 to 45.2).
About Marion High School
Marion High School is a high school located in Marion, Iowa, in Linn County. Its 735 students are spread across grades 9 through 12. The typical figure for high schools in Iowa is about 468 students.
Marion High School is in Marion Independent School District, a district with 2,163 students across 5 schools.
At Marion High School, White students make up 82% of the student body. Other students are 7% multiracial, 6% Hispanic, and 4% Black. The county population is about 84% White, within a few points of the school. Marion High School has a diversity index of 31%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The school employs the equivalent of 45.2 full-time teachers, for a ratio of 16.3:1. Among high schools in Iowa, the typical ratio is 17.3:1. The free or reduced-price lunch share, often used to gauge student poverty, is 27%. The rate at public schools in Linn County averages 40%, higher than here.
Marion High School is graded C- by allk12, scoring above 20% of Iowa public high schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Marion High School is -10.5 points, in the bottom 10% of Iowa. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 67.8%, and the predicted rate is 78.3%.
Census estimates describe Linn County this way: median household income is about $77,649, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 35% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 6%. Federal data list 83 public schools in Linn County, with a combined enrollment of about 36,480.
The nearest public school is Francis Marion Intermediate School, at about 0.5 miles. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Among the 7 closest schools with test data, this one included, Marion High School ranks 7th on average proficiency.
In the federal locale system, Marion High School is coded Suburb: Mid-size, for schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Marion High School saw enrollment rise 7% between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
The Marion High School community page is open for posts about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Linn County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
230,004
Census ACS
Median income
$77,649
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
35%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
83
36,480 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Marion Independent School District
- Vernon Middle SchoolMiddle · 587 students
- Francis Marion Intermediate SchoolElementary · 320 students
- Parkview Elementary SchoolElementary · 267 students
- Longfellow ElementaryElementary · 254 students
- Emerson Learning Center (HSAP)Combined
Other schools in Marion
- Linn-Mar High SchoolHigh · 2,229 students
- Boulder Peak Intermediate SchoolMiddle · 613 students
- Excelsior Middle SchoolMiddle · 594 students
- Vernon Middle SchoolMiddle · 587 students
- Hazel Point Intermediate SchoolMiddle · 563 students
- Echo Hill ElementaryElementary · 536 students
Other Marion High schools
9 other US public schools in 10 states are named Marion High. Marion High School is the 4th largest of the 10.
- Marion High SchoolMarion, IL · 1,075 students
- Marion High SchoolMarion, IN · 1,058 students
- MARION HIGH SCHOOLMARION, AR · 927 students
- Marion HighMarion, SC · 572 students
- Marion High SchoolMARION, TX · 516 students
Nearby schools
- Francis Marion Intermediate School0.5 mi · 320
- Vernon Middle School0.5 mi · 587
- Parkview Elementary School0.9 mi · 267
- Longfellow Elementary1.0 mi · 254
- Wilkins Elementary School1.5 mi · 348
- Indian Creek Elementary School1.9 mi · 354
Frequently asked questions
About Marion High SchoolHow many students attend Marion High School?
Marion High School enrolls approximately 735 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Marion High School serve?
Marion High School serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
How many students per teacher at Marion High School?
Approximately 16.3:1 students per teacher at Marion High School.
How diverse is Marion High School?
Marion High School reports a student body of 82% White, 6% Hispanic, 4% Black, 1% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Who oversees Marion High School?
Marion High School is overseen by Marion Independent School District in Linn County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.